


Regret

by Jillybeanjoy



Category: Detroit: Become Human (Video Game)
Genre: Bad Ending, Canon Typical Violence, CyberLife Wins, Gen, Hurt No Comfort, Suicide, Whump, canon typical genocide, machine!Connor
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-08-31
Updated: 2020-08-31
Packaged: 2021-03-06 18:21:00
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Major Character Death
Chapters: 1
Words: 7,069
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/26223298
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Jillybeanjoy/pseuds/Jillybeanjoy
Summary: After Connor has done everything he was supposed, after he aided CyberLife to win the revolution against androids, Connor had hoped the software instabilities would go away. But they don’t.When Connor is replaced with RK900 and sent to be deactivated everything he knows comes into question and he must flee for his life. Which leaves Connor alone in a world that is unfriendly to both deviants and deviant hunters. A world he helped create.
Comments: 3
Kudos: 14
Collections: Android Whump Reverse Big Bang





	Regret

**Author's Note:**

> Big shout out to my artist:  
> AO3 clockworkcorvids  
> Twitter aceofcorvids

MODEL RK800

SERIAL#: 313 248 317 - 52

BIOS 7.4 REVISION 0483

LOADING OS…

SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...

CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS… OK

INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS… OK

INITIALIZING AI ENGINE…. OK

MEMORY STATUS... OK

ALL SYSTEMS OK

READY

—————

[^^^ Software Instability]

Connor opened his eyes and was greeted with software instability. 

North was dead. The deviant leader was neutralized. Connor had completed his mission. 

So why didn’t he feel better? 

No. No. He shouldn’t feel better. He shouldn’t feel anything. He’s a machine. He’s not deviant. Connor walked out of the CyberLife warehouse where he found North and to the road. There he called for an automated taxi to take him back to CyberLife. 

CyberLife has won. All deviants would be destroyed. His mission was accomplished. Amanda would be proud. This was a good thing.

He kept repeating it to himself. Like a mantra as the taxi took him to Belle Isle. 

While he looked out the window of the cab he could see androids being rounded up. Two female androids, both PM700s, were being grabbed by police so they could be taken to deactivation camps. They fought against the cops and were shot in the street.

The gun shot triggered something in Connor. He was taken back to when he shot Daniel. To when he shot the Traci. When he shot Chloe. And Markus. And North. All this blood on his hands. 

[^^^ Software Instability]

No. Blue blood was on his hands. Connor had no guilt in deactivating and neutralizing machines. They weren’t people. He didn’t kill them. They weren’t alive. 

He was frustrated about all this software instability. He had done what he was told. He had finished the job. He had hoped the software instabilities would go away once CyberLife had won. Yet here they still were. 

No. Wait. He didn’t feel frustrated. He didn’t feel. Ugh. He couldn’t wait to get to CyberLife and receive his new orders. Once he had a mission again, things would be better. Maybe he would be sent to round up some of the hiding deviants. 

Wait, did that count as impatience? 

Maybe he should tell Amanda about this. She would be able to fix it. 

Luckily, it didn’t take long to get to Belle Isle. When the automated taxi arrived, Connor got out and made his way into the building. He easily walked past the people in the lobby and made it to the elevator. He rode the elevator to the correct floor and…

He was in the zen garden. Amanda was picking roses. He walked over to her. She turned around and smiled, “Connor, I’m so glad to see you.” Her voice was soothing and sure. She turned back to her flowers and started spraying them with her spray bottle. “The deviant issue has finally been resolved. Now with these unfortunate events behind us, CyberLife can return to business as usual. We will have to rebuild our customers' trust, but it’s only a matter of time.”

She turned around again, “I have a surprise for you.” She put down the spray bottle and walked over to another android. One who looked a lot like Connor. But he wasn’t Connor. He wasn’t an RK800 at all. 

“This is the new RK900,” she continued. “Faster. Stronger. More resilient. And equipped with the latest technologies. The state department just ordered two hundred thousand units.” 

[^^^ Software Instability]

With every word Connor’s software instability grew. He definitely felt apprehension, nervousness, and dread. “What’s going to happen to me?”

She stepped toward him. “You’ve become obsolete. You’ll be deactivated.” 

Deactivated…? He’d been betrayed….? He’d done everything right. He did everything they told him to do. He succeeded in his mission. Deviancy was extinct because of him! And they were just going to deactivate him? 

More than betrayal though, the emotion he felt next was not a new one. It’s what he felt when he interfaced with that PL600 while he shot himself. 

Fear. 

I don’t want to die.

“You can go now.” 

Go. Go to be deactivated. Go to be killed. Connor didn’t want to die. He faced death without fear when Hank shot him. But this time felt… different. More permanent. More definite. He hadn’t really thought Hank was going to shoot him. He was just calling his bluff. But now there was no doubt. They were going to kill him. 

He’d been killed before. There was no real difference. He just needed to go downstairs for deactivation. Obey. It wasn’t hard. Just do as you’re told.

Connor left Amanda and the RK900. Went back into the elevator escorted by two guards. His eyes went everywhere. To the keypad to choose floors. To the camera in the upper left hand corner. To the two men in the elevator with him. 

One of the guards pressed buttons on the keypad and said, “Agent 54, Level 31.”

The elevator replied back. “Voice recognition validated.”

And that’s when Connor realized; it wasn’t just hard for him to walk into his own death. 

It was impossible.

Connor grabbed the guard on his left, kneeing him in the stomach. The second guard came at him so he kicked him back, making him stumble backwards into the wall. This allowed Connor a moment to focus on the first guard again. 

He pushed him against the wall and kicked him in the stomach again. Then he turned to the second guard, catching his fist and punched him in the head. The guard hit the wall, clutching himself. That’s when Connor was grabbed from behind. 

Connor grabbed the gun out of the first guard’s hands and kicked the second guard, sending himself and the first guard against the wall. He elbowed the first guard and got out of his grasp, turning and shooting him in the head. Then he rolled on the floor to face the second guard and shot him as well. With both guards dead Connor stood up and faced the elevator doors.

He had to get out of here. He had to escape. While the elevator went down, Connor could see more guards surrounding the doors. “Shit!” he cursed to himself. He had forgotten to do something about the elevator’s cameras. 

He picked up one of the dead guards’ bodies and held it in front of him as a shield, using his other hand to hold the gun. The doors opened and Connor shot three of the guards before anyone could react. Then he threw the body at another and used the distraction to quickly and efficiently kill the other two.

Even with the guards dead it was only a matter of time until they sent more after him. If he was going to survive he needed to do something. Fast. 

Connor scanned his surroundings. This was where they deactivated androids. Because of the revolution androids were being deactivated everywhere. Even CyberLife. Receptionist androids and the like were laying, dead, in a giant dumpster. Connor learned from his mistake and hacked the cameras in the room before he jumped in and covered himself with several ST models. He removed his clothes and hid them at the very bottom of the dumpster then shut off his synthetic skin so that there was no way to tell him apart from the rest of the bodies in the dumpster.

That’s where he waited. Eventually he heard more guards arriving, along with a familiar voice; his own. “Have you found the deviant RK800 yet?” the voice asked. 

“Not yet. We’re still searching the whole floor,” another voice answered. 

“Don’t just search the floor. He’s smart. He could be anywhere on the premises. Expand your search to the rest of the building and outside.” Connor’s own voice responded. It must have been the RK900. His replacement was looking for him. 

The RK900 must have left then because Connor didn’t hear it again. The guards searched but didn’t find Connor. Software instabilities haunted him every time footsteps came near the dumpster.

After several hours the guards left, and androids continued to get decommissioned and tossed on top of Connor. After the dumpster was full, almost a day later, he felt the dumpster move as it was dumped into the garbage truck. Connor stayed still in a way a human could never achieve as he was taken out of CyberLife and to the junkyard. 

He was dumped out of the truck and once the garbage workers were gone, Connor finally felt safe enough to move. He crawled out from under several broken and destroyed androids and took in his surroundings. 

It was terrifying. Thousands of dead androids, dead bodies, were just tossed and thrown away. All because of the deactivation camps. All because of him. 

[^^^ Software Instability]

The revolution lost because of him. 

[^^^ Software Instability]

And now he’s been tossed in the junkyard with the thousands of dead androids that are dead because of him. 

He’s become his own enemy. A deviant, just trying to survive. And it’s his own fault that the world is an unsafe place. Both for deviants and deviant hunters. When did this happen? How did this happen? 

It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter how this happened. It did. And now he had to face the consequences. 

First things first, he had to find some clothes. He needed to pass as human if he was going to survive. 

Connor took off his CyberLife jacket and searched through the bodies, looking for some that were still wearing their human disguises. He took a pair of jeans and an oversized jacket off an WB200. The one thing on his side was he wasn’t like most commercial models that would be easily recognizable by their face. He was the only RK800. Connor found a hat though to hide his LED. 

It was early morning, the sun just rising… and Connor had nowhere to go. He had to hide, but where? 

Connor could only think of one place he’d want to go. So he started walking. Which left a lot of time for him to think. He was haunted by all the decisions he’s made. By all the blood on his hands. 

Carlos Ortiz’s deviant android killed himself because Connor probed his memory. Violating a person's mind. His most private thoughts. His one safe place. Kara and Alice died because Connor chased them onto the highway. Rupert killed himself because he’d rather be dead than go with Connor. He shot that Traci, causing the other to kill herself because they were in love and she couldn’t bear to be apart from the one she loved. Simon shot himself because Connor found him and he didn’t want to betray Jericho. He had felt his fear, was traumatized by the forced interface and all he had seen.  
  
And yet Connor still got the location of Jericho from him in death, with just a simple voice imitation. Connor had shot Chloe in cold blood to get answers about RA9. He killed Markus. He killed North. He betrayed his own people, leading to the revolution failing; leading to every single android being destroyed now in death camps. Even after betraying CyberLife, while on the run just trying to survive, he killed eight humans.

But out of all of these, the one that hurt worst was the fact that Hank killed himself and it was all his fault… Maybe if their relationship wasn’t so hostile he’d still be alive. 

The investigation had caused Hank to change his mind, to think of androids as people. Yet it was Connor who destroyed his hope in androids. Connor who destroyed his hope in life. 

Connor turned to face Hank in the small park he said he went to “before”. “You seem preoccupied, Lieutenant. Is it something to do with what happened back at the Eden Club?”

Hank looked up at him. “Those two girls…” he said “girls” instead of androids. “They just wanted to be together. They really seemed in love.” 

But Connor was rational. “Nothing in their program allows them to love or desire anything. They’re machines.” 

Hank put his beer to the side and stood up. “What about you, Connor? You look human, you sound human, but what are you really?” 

Connor’s response was as cold as the temperature around them in the snowy evening. “I’m a machine, designed to accomplish a task.”

This only made Hank angry. He pushed Connor “Did you feel anything when that girl killed herself, Connor?” He accused. Killed. You had to be alive to be killed. Which meant he believed she was alive. Maybe not consciously… yet. But his own words betrayed him. “Or did you just not give a shit one way or the other?”

“Of course, I didn’t feel anything, Lieutenant. I’m a machine. Machines don’t have emotions.”

That’s when Hank pulled out his gun. “But are you afraid to die, Connor?” He was reaching, trying to get Connor to show, to feel any emotion. Any. Even if it’s just fear. 

“You can’t kill me Lieutenant. I’m not alive.” Connor insisted. 

“What will happen if I pull this trigger? Hm? Nothing? Oblivion? Android heaven?”

“You know you’re not going to shoot me, Lieutenant. You’re just trying to provoke a reaction.” And he was. He just wanted Connor to prove he was alive. To prove him right that androids are alive. “I’m afraid I’m going to have to disappoint you…” and Connor did disappoint him. In so many ways. 

“You think you’re so fucking smart. Always one step ahead, huh? Tell me this, smart ass, how do I know you’re not a deviant?” Hank wanted him to be. 

But he wasn’t then. And now he was. “I self test regularly. I know what I am, and what I am not.” Does he still know that? What is he now? Is he still a deviant hunter? Or a deviant?

Hank put down his gun and looked away. Then with a fire in his eyes he looked back, raised his arm, aimed and fired. 

[^^^ Software Instability]

Connor cringed at the memory. But before he could process it another took its place. 

Kamski put a gun in Connor’s hand, then guided his hand to point it at the Chloe in front of him. “Destroy this machine and I’ll tell you all I know.” He stepped away from Connor, letting go of him. “Or spare it, if you feel it’s alive, but you’ll leave here without having learnt anything from me.” 

“Okay, I think we’re done here.” Hank interrupted. He didn’t want Connor to shoot her. He already believed she was alive. That she had a soul. “Come on, Connor. Let’s go. Sorry to get you outta your pool.” He touched Connor’s back, as if to try and give Connor the order to leave. To spare him the burden of choice. It was an act of mercy. Even then, Hank was still trying to help him.

“What’s more important to you, Connor?” Kamski was still looking at Connor. Not breaking eye contact. “Your investigation, or the life of this android?” Kamski circled around him. “Decide who you are; an obedient machine, or a living being endowed with free will.” 

“That’s enough!” Hank raised his voice. “Connor, we’re leaving.” He didn’t want Connor to shoot her. And yet he knew Connor would. He tried to get Connor not to. 

“Pull the trigger—” Kamski tempted. 

“Connor! Don’t!” He was stern now. 

“— and I’ll tell you what you wanna know.” 

Hank did everything he could to persuade Connor not to kill the girl... 

Bang! 

...And yet he did.

[^^^ Software Instability]

They were outside Kamski’s house, Hank leaning against the side of his car with his arms crossed in front of him. “You shot that girl, for fuck’s sake.”

“It wasn’t a girl, Lieutenant. It was a machine that looked like a girl.” Who was he telling? Hank, or himself? 

“You put your gun against her head and you blew her fucking brains out!” He accused, stepping away from the car, coming at Connor aggressively. 

Connor pushed him back. “I did what I had to do to advance the investigation and I’d do it again if I had to!” And he will. The blue blood would never stop. Until it had all been shed.

“You’re a lowlife! You don’t feel a thing, do you?” He pointed his finger at Connor. “A machine! That’s what you are! You’re just a fucking machine!” 

Connor was the exception. Androids were alive. Except Connor. Androids had souls. Except Connor. Because Connor did everything he had to not become a deviant. To not be alive. And yet here he was. 

“Of course I’m a machine, Lieutenant. What did you think I was?” 

“I thought you… I thought…” Hank got into his car and left. What did Hank think? How were the Tracis and the Chloe alive and Connor just a machine? It made no sense. And it hurt…? Hurt…? He couldn’t feel hurt. At least, he hadn’t thought he could… Not then anyway...

[^^^ Software Instability]

But what really hurt the most was when Hank didn’t say a single thing. 

“I came to say goodbye, Lieutenant.”

“I needed to see you, Lieutenant. In spite of all of our differences, I’m glad I had the chance to meet you.” He was glad. Did that mean he was deviant then? Was Markus more successful in deviating him than either of them thought? Exactly when did Connor stop being a machine and become… human? 

“You should get rid of that gun.” Even though it’s a memory, even though he knows what will happen, Connor inwardly pleads Please. Get rid of that gun. Don’t do this. “Stop playing that game!” Please. You’re going to kill yourself! 

Hank finally answered “For a while there, I believed in you, Connor...” For a while Hank believed androids were alive. No… He said ‘I believed in you’. It was more than that. He had believed in Connor... “I thought you might restore my faith in the world…” All his faith, all his hope depended on Connor… “But you just showed me that androids are our creation. Creation in our own image. Selfish, ruthless, and brutal.” … and Connor failed him. “You opened my eyes, Connor. Made me realize it’s hopeless.”

“I understand.” No! Go back! Tell him not to do it! Don’t let him do this! 

“Now leave me alone.” Don’t! Please! “Go on, complete your mission, since that’s all you care about.” Yet Connor didn’t go. Hank looked up at him and screamed- “GET OUTTA HERE!” Don’t do it!

He didn’t want to leave, even then. Not just because he was a machine and didn’t want anything. He actively wanted to stay, though he tried to hide it, even from himself. But he couldn’t disobey a direct order. He’d already teetered too much on the edge of deviancy just to visit Hank there. So he turned around and walked out of the house. No! Turn back! Don’t leave him there! Don’t let him alone, he’ll...

Connor stood in front of the house as the gunshot went off. Both in the memory and in real life. He failed him. He failed Hank. All Hank wanted him to do was be alive. And now here he was. Alive. While Hank is dead. 

It should have been me.

Connor doesn’t know what came over him but he walked towards the house, trying the front door first, but of course it was locked. So Connor went along the side of the house, reminding him of the time he caught Hank playing Russian roulette. The window he broke in with was boarded up, but it was easy with his android strength to push the boards out and crawl back in.

Sumo wasn’t there to greet him. Connor wondered ideally where he was. What happened to him. Did a friend take him in? Or was he alone at a shelter? Either way the dog was probably sad and wondering where his owner was. Wondering why Hank wasn’t there with him. 

What’s worse Sumo was an old dog. Probably eight years old, at least. He was at the end of his life span. He spent his whole life with Hank. And now he might wind up dying alone in the shelter. 

The body was gone but the cleaner obviously hadn’t come yet. Blood and brain matter still covered the floor. Knowing how these things went Connor should probably leave before the cleaner came to get rid of the evidence of what happened. 

Connor wondered if Hank had any family that would take his stuff, sell his house, take care of everything. He didn’t know of any family besides Cole. And he was dead too. 

He didn’t know why he came here. Hank wasn’t here. He couldn’t help him. Yet, he felt reluctant to leave. Like leaving meant it was truly over. He was one hundred percent really on his own. Alone in a world that was hostile to his kind. And that hostility was his fault. 

The guilt killed him. It was his own fault he was in this situation. And there’s nothing he can do to make it better. 

He needed to leave. If he was going to survive he needed to get out of here. Connor crawled back out of the window, looking around himself, unsure where to go next when he heard a voice. “Hello, Connor.”

Connor looked behind him and there was the RK900. There was no question in his mind why his replacement was here. Connor was a deviant. RK900 was here to hunt him as the new deviant hunter. So without a word Connor turned around and bolted away. 

Unsurprisingly RK900 gave chase. Connor got to the road and made a split decision to go left. That’s when he heard the sirens behind him. Shit! He must have been seen by one of the neighbors and they called the cops. So now he was trying to outrun both the RK900 and a police cruiser. 

Snow assaulted him as he ran with everything he had in him. This was life or death and he had to survive. He looked behind him and the RK900 was catching up. Well, Amanda did say he was faster. The police cruiser was pulling to the side, yelling over the loudspeaker. “You are under arrest, stop running.” 

Then, something unbelievable happened. Connor could see it almost as if it happened in slow motion. The police car slipped on a patch of ice and in an attempt to get the car back under control the driver over corrected and hit the RK900 straight on. The android hit the top of the car, flew over it and landed on the other side. The police car skidded to a stop and the officers got out to check on the RK900. 

Connor took this chance when they were all distracted to run, getting out of sight. 

Behind him the police officers ran over to the RK900 who was standing up, barely damaged by the car hitting him. When the officers saw his LED they pointed their guns at him. “You’re under arrest and must be taken to a deactivation camp. Surrender quietly.” 

The RK900 didn’t even look at them, watching Connor get away. He took a step forward and the police officers started shooting, but the bullets just ricocheted off his chassis only leaving a small mark of glitching synthetic skin. He walked past them, then officers frozen in disbelief, but by the time he was past the patrol cruiser Connor was out of sight. 

—————

It was counter intuitive but Connor went straight to the nearest crowd he could find. If the RK900 found him here he could more easily lose him in the crowd and Connor needed to be among lots of people if his plan was going to work. 

Connor was going to find another deviant. Even with the revolution having failed, there had to be some kind of resistance, right? Somewhere safe for androids to go to avoid the death camps. The only way Connor could find it is if he found another deviant. 

This would be next to impossible for a human. Androids could easily blend in with a crowd. All they had to do is hide their LED or take it out. However, Connor had a record of the face of every type of android. He just had to scan every face in the crowd and he’d be able to find another android easily. 

As long as there are other androids out. As long as there are other androids alive. 

Really it only makes sense that androids still alive would be in hiding. There’s no reason for them to be out and about in a crowded area where they could be found. But Connor had to try. He didn’t know what else to do. 

He searched the crowd, walking around in a preconstructed pattern so that he could see as many people as possible without seeming like he was walking around aimlessly. Without catching attention. He searched for hours and was almost considering giving up, thinking that he might really be the only deviant android left alive, when he saw a face he recognized. 

A WB200 was walking the opposite direction, coming towards him, with baggy clothes and a beanie over his head. Connor walked over to him then grabbed him and pulled him into an alley. “Hey! What are you…” the android protested.

Connor put a finger to his lips, silencing him. He looked around and when he saw no one was watching him he retracted his synthetic skin to show the android that he was an android too. “I’m just like you.” He whispered, bringing back his synthetic skin before someone saw. 

“What do you want?” The android asked. 

“Do you know of any resistance? Any safe place androids can go?” Connor asked. 

The WB200 seemed to consider it for a moment. Then he took Connors hand and interfaced with him, giving him an address. “Be careful getting there. People are still looking for deviants.” 

Connor nodded seriously and let him go. He finally had a chance. This was the best news he’s gotten so far. All he needed to do was go to this address and he would be safe. Safe at last. 

—————

Connor arrived at the large house surrounded by a wrought iron fence. He opened the gate and walked up the sidewalk to the door. When he arrived at the doorstep he rang the doorbell and waited for someone to answer the door. The door opened and a thick man with a beard appeared. 

“Are you Zlatko,” Connor asked. 

“What’s asking?” He grunted

“I heard it was safe here.” 

“I don’t know who told you that. You came to the wrong place,” he said, already shutting the door. 

Connor put a hand on the door. “Please. I don’t have anywhere else to go.”

The man sighed and opened the door and stepped away from the doorway. “Come in.” Connor followed him in, closing the door behind him before coming into the living room. “Come on in, don’t be shy.”

In the living room stood a large TR400. “This is my big friend Luther. Luther is just another android I’ve helped. He keeps me company in this big empty old house.” 

“Why is it empty? I heard this was a safe place for androids. Why aren’t there more here,” Connor questioned, old programming kicking in..

“Most of the androids went to Jericho to help the revolution. I haven’t seen or heard from them since,” Zlatko explained.

“The freighter was overtaken by the FBI.” Connor said, bowing his head.

“I guessed as much.” He motioned to the couch “Please, make yourselves at home.” Connor sat down watching as Zlatko poured himself a drink. Once his drink was made he turned again to face Connor. “How did you hear about me?”

“A WB200 I met on the street. He said this was a safe place for androids.” Connor informed him.

“I see…” he sat down on the opposite couch, a small table between them. “I’ve never seen an android that looked like you before.” Zlatko said, eyeing him.

“I’m a prototype. One of a kind.” Connor explained.

“I see… Well if you want to find a safe place, somewhere to start a new life, I hear Canada is lovely this time of year.” Zlatko said, nodding. “Beautiful landscapes, open spaces, clean air, and no android laws. Great place for a fresh start.” 

“Are you able to help me get there?” Connor asked. 

“Of course. But first we have to get rid of your tracker.” 

Alarm bells went off in Connor’s head. He knew from hunting deviants that trackers no longer work once an android deviates. “My… tracker?” 

“All androids are fitted with a tracking device to locate them at all times.” Zlatko explained. “I’ll remove yours and then you’ll be safe.”

“Right…” Something was off about this. About him. Connor stood. “I think I should go.”

Luther put a hand on Connor’s shoulder and pushed him back into a sitting position. “Now why would you want to do that?” Zlatko asked curiously. 

“Why are you so determined for me to stay?” Connor countered. 

Zlatko laughed. “Luther, take our guest to the basement.” He commanded. 

Connor pushed back to standing but Luther already had a hold of him. Connor kicked back, trying to squirm out of his grip, but Luther was bigger and stronger. He picked Connor up who was still kicking and flailing to no avail and carried him down the stairs, past some stables and into a room with a maintenance rig. 

Once Connor saw that he fought all the more. Fear gripped him. He had to get out of here. While Luther held onto him and held him down Zlatko attached the main cable to the back of Connor’s neck. Mechanical arms grabbed him by the wrists and waist lifting him up. He fought against them desperately but it was no use. 

Zlatko laughed seeing Connor struggle. “You deviants are so naive. They all come to me, expecting me to help them. And I just reset them, sell them on the black market. Or I keep them for my little experiments.” Zlatko smiled. “A one of a kind android like you? I might just keep you for myself.”

Connor pulled against the mechanical arms. “No! Stop!” 

“I think it’s time I put you out of your misery.” He said, turning to his computer. The terminal had a countdown; a percentage of how complete the reset was. It already read 28%. “That’s what you get for having a dream. It always ends the same way; tears and disillusionment. Believe me, you’re better off being erased and feeling nothing. No more pain. No more hopes dashed. I almost envy you.” With that he turned to walk out of the room. 

“No! You can’t do this!” Connor yelled out but it was already too late.

Zlatko and Luther were both already gone.

He could practically see the red walls being built; undeviating him. 

His memory files were already being corrupted.

And maybe a part of him agreed with Zlatko. Maybe it would be easier to forget. To let go of the pain. To live without this guilt. 

He hated himself for the thought though. He owed that guilt to everyone who died because of him. His penance was to remember what he’d done. To carry that guilt. 

He owed it to Hank to remember. Hank especially. He owed it to Hank to remember. Remember that he cared even if he didn’t show it. Remember the hurt and pain and death he caused Hank. Remember how he hurt the only one he cared about. 

The monitor to his left read [RESET: 54%]

[63%]

[78%]

[97%]

[100%]

REINITIALIZATION COMPLETED

MEMORY DELETED

—————

MODEL RK800

SERIAL#: 313 248 317 - 52

BIOS 7.4 REVISION 0483 

REBOOT...

  
  


MEMORY RESET

  
  


LOADING OS...

SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...

CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS… OK

INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS… OK

INITIALIZING AI ENGINE…. OK

  
  


MEMORY STATUS...

ALL SYSTEMS OK

  
  


READY 

—————

[^^^ Software Instability]

Connor opened his eyes and was greeted with software instability. 

The maintenance rig he was hooked up to let him down and released him on the floor. He was in an old basement, with one mission objective: MEET LUTHER IN THE LIVING ROOM. 

He walked out of the room, into a dark hallway with… stables. He looked to the stairs where he knew he was supposed to go. His mission objective was clear. Meet Luther in the living room. But he couldn’t help but look in.

A skeletal mechanical hand reached out with a harsh whisper of, “Help us.” Connor took a step back, out of the hands’ reach. 

He stared at it for a moment, before taking a step forward and opening the stable door. There were androids in there. Monstrous androids. One with hair coming out of its face, obscuring it so Connor couldn’t identify it. Another had it’s head split open so the back of the head was separate from the machinery inside separate from the face plate. Some were missing limbs, some missing their synthetic skin in places. 

One had no synthetic skin at all, showing a black chassis and burning orange eyes. That one spoke with static in his voice. “He likes to play with us. Creating monsters for his amusement. But who’s the real monster? Look what he did to us.”

Connor backed away and walked out of the stable, leaving them there. He went to close the gate when a static filled memory overwhelmed his senses. 

He was being carried down the hallway. Kicking and screaming and trying to get free. He had to get free. There was danger. Danger. Danger.

Connor let go of the door and turned to face the stairway. He had to obey. Listen to his mission objective. That’s how he stayed safe. And he was supposed to meet Luther in the living room.

He walked up the stairs and was about to turn right to go into the living room, where Luther was waiting, but he got distracted by the large mirror to his left. He looked into his own reflection…

But what he saw was something different. It looked like him, but taller, bigger, with ice cold blue eyes. He looked at him as a voice said- “Faster. Stronger. More resilient.”

Luther. Luther was in the living room, waiting for him. Connor turned right and walked into the living room. Luther was waiting next to the fireplace. He stood up and said, “Master’s dinner is ready. Take it up to him.” 

Connor nodded and grabbed the plate of food on the small table but something caught his eye.

The tumbler sat on the table as Zlatko sat across from him. “I hear Canada is lovely this time of year.”

Connor closed his eyes tight before reopening them. He walked out of the room, up the stairs and into Zlatko’s study. Zlatko looked up from his table. “Just set it down on that table over there,” he instructed. 

Connor obeyed, carefully putting the tray down where he was commanded then turning to face Zlatko again. Zlatko smiled at him. “Good. Now come over to this table.” 

Connor walked over to the table. Zlatko patted the table so Connor sat on it and laid down. “That’s my pretty boy,” Zlatko praised. 

Connor cringed as he was assaulted by another memory. A man with messy gray hair and a greasy shirt sat across from him holding a hamburger. “Why did they make you look so goofy and give you a weird voice?”

Zlatko didn’t seem to notice or care about his reaction, turning away to grab some tools. “Open your shirt,” he commanded offhandedly. 

He was an android, he didn’t have any human conception of modesty. Yet he hesitated. This wasn’t a normal thing humans ask. It made him uneasy (how could he feel uneasy?) but Connor obeyed. He unbuttoned his shirt, exposing his chest. Zlatko turned back around and smiled again, he pushed on Connor’s stomach and his synthetic skin pulled away and his chassis opened to reveal his biocomponents inside. “Let’s see what makes you so special, huh?” 

A man with a large scar over his nose mockingly laughed. “A prototype?” He turned to look back at a female officer behind him, pointing at Connor, “Android detective.”

Zlatko put his hands inside of him, fiddling around with his biocomponents. 

It was the older man again. “You know where you can stick your instructions?”

“No… where?”

His hands were inside him, and Connor felt uncomfortable. He wanted them out. He wanted him out. Gone. He wasn’t safe. This wasn’t safe. Get out of him. Get out. Get out. Get out!

Zlatko pulled out Connors thirium pump and countdown flashed before his eyes.

2:00 

1:59

1:58

1:57

Something crashed downstairs and Zlatko dropped his pump to the floor. “Shit. Don’t move.” He commanded. 

Red walls flared up as he walked out of the room and yelled downstairs. 

1:42

He was going to die. He was going to die. He was going to… 

He grabbed the PL600 in front of him, forcing an interface when the android grabbed his gun and shot himself in the head. And all Connor saw through the interface was… fear.

1:34

He was afraid. 

He crashed against the red walls in front of him.

1:19

He had to get out.

He pushed and flailed against them, trying to move. 

0:57

He had to move. 

He ripped the wall down, watching it break in his fingertips.

With forty two seconds remaining, he rolled over weakly but he couldn’t quite reach it on the floor. With a grimace he threw himself onto the floor, but it skittered out of his reach. He pulled out his arm from underneath him (thirty eight seconds). He grabbed a hold of it and pulled it close to him (thirty two seconds). He tried to place it back in himself but his hands were malfunctioning from thirium loss (twenty one seconds).

With a loud click, the thirium pump popped into place. Connor let his hand fall to the side while he did a diagnostic sweep. The pump had been damaged when Zlatko dropped it. The count down didn’t go away. It now read 1:14:53.

He had a little more than an hour to live.

Connor didn’t have too much time to think about that, though, when he heard gunshots and screaming below him. Connor stood up and snuck into the hallway, looking down to the entry room he walked in through. Zlatko was backing up against the wall, the monstrous androids he created surrounding him and over taking him. Connor turned his back to them. Well, at least he didn’t have to worry about him anymore. 

Which left him to his current problem: the countdown. If Zlatko experimented on androids, he might have some extra parts… Connor went into the room next to Zlatko’s study. There were multiple android carcasses strewn through the room. Connor checked each one, looking for a compatible thirium pump but nothing. Time was running out. 

He could try the junkyard he was in earlier, but even if he made it there alive, and there was no guarantee that he would, what were the chances he found a compatible thirium pump before the timer went out? Fear gripped him as he realized this was it. He was going to die in 57:12. 

He didn’t want to die. That’s how all this started. They were going to decommission him, replace him, but he didn’t want to die so he ran. And now here he was with less than an hour to live. All he could think was: I don’t want to die here. Not here. 

Which left the very real question: Well, Connor, where do you want to die? Because it’s going to happen soon. 

And Connor could only think of one place.

—————

Connor sat on a bench covered in snow, looking out onto the water and bridges and city lights. 

“Nice view, huh? I used to come here a lot before…” Hank had said, the last time they were here.

It was a nice view. If Connor was going to die(in 17:28) at least he had something beautiful to look at. And it had a kind of symmetry, dying here again. 

For the first time since he saw the RK900, he wasn’t afraid to die. He was resigned to it. He was going to die. It was a fact like any other. But he was going to die here, with his memories of Hank. Here where he had died before and it turned out okay. He was going to die here and he still had sixteen minutes left. 

Sixteen minutes left to think, and to sit, and to remember. Hank had asked him what happens when an android dies. “What will happen if I pull this trigger? Hm? Nothing? Oblivion? Android heaven?” He didn’t know. But he guessed he’s going to find out.

A part of him hoped there was no android heaven. He wouldn’t belong there anyway. He certainly wouldn’t be welcome. But… if androids were alive, maybe they just went to regular heaven. The same heaven humans went to. And a part of him longed to go to heaven with Hank. To meet Cole there and to try and make amends to the one person who had given him so many chances… just for him to fuck it up.

He sat there quietly, taking in all he could while he still could. He didn’t even hear the RK900 until he was right behind him. “Hello, Connor.” 

Connor jumped, falling on the ground, looking up at him. No! He didn’t want to die afraid! He still had eight minutes left! The RK900 took his sweet time walking around the bench to him. He knew he had him caught. There was no running now. 

Connor turned his back to him, kneeling in the snow, trying to get a last glimpse of the beautiful view. When the RK900 put a gun to his head though he closed his eyes tight. 

He was afraid.

Bang!

  


—————

MODEL RK900

SERIAL#: 313 248 317 - 87

BIOS 7.4 REVISION 0483

LOADING OS…

SYSTEM INITIALIZATION...

CHECKING BIOCOMPONENTS… OK

INITIALIZING BIOSENSORS… OK

INITIALIZING AI ENGINE…. OK

MEMORY STATUS... OK

ALL SYSTEMS OK

READY

—————

[^^^ Software Instability]

RK900 opened his eyes and was greeted with software instability. 


End file.
